ISLAMABAD: Students of the engineering department of the Federal Urdu University of Science and Technology and those of Quaid-i-Azam University’s (QAU) law department held separate protests in their respective campuses on Tuesday against the non-affiliation of their departments with professional bodies.

Students and faculty members from Urdu University’s Electrical Engineering Department gathered outside the campus and protested against the university administration for not registering the department with the Pakistan Engineering Council yet. Students accused the university administration for a number of other issues and expressed concern for their academic careers.

The university is run in a rented building and has some 5,000 students. The administration has been asked by the landlord, the Water and Power Development Authority, to vacate the building in two months.

Separately, students of the QAU law department also held a protest against the non-accreditation of the department and blamed the university administration for delaying the process. A number of students held a walk across the campus and demanded that the department be affiliated with the Pakistan Bar Council.

Meanwhile, students of the Indus International Institute Dera Ghazi Khan, which is being run by Minister for Communication Hafiz Abdul Kareem, held a rally at Zero Point, accusing the minister of issuing hundreds of “fake” degrees to students.

The students protested in front of media offices. Some 1,500 students were enrolled at the said institution which was initially affiliated with the University of Faisalabad. The university later suspended its affiliation as the institution was not meeting the set criteria. The protesting students said their degrees are not accepted by the Higher Education Commission and therefore do not have any status.

The minister could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts. However, one of his staff officers said the minister was making efforts to resolve the matter on a priority basis.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2018